Drinking fountain head



Filed Nov. 22, 1937 Patented Nov. 19, 1940 UNITED STATES DRINKI G FOUNTAIN HEAD Eugene W. Marchand, Maywood, Ill.-, assignor to r ne. 00-, Illinois g Chicago, 111., a corporation of Y ppl cation November 22, 1937. Serial No. 175,805

' 5 claims. 40!. 259;

My invention relates to a novel form of drinking fountain head-preferably having an offset orifice in which the jet of water or stream is formed within a concealed portion and '5 charged through an elongated or slotted type of opening producing an especially desirable drinking mount of water, considered especially from the standpoint of maintaining sanitation in'the; avoidance of communicable diseases during the 1b course of drinking, and also in the formation of a practical and satisfactory drinking mound when applied mouth.

An' important object of Imy invention lies in f5 the provision of a drinking fountain head with a renewable and adjustable orifice, the latter being easily and economically formed so as to provide the proper guide for the stream 0011- fined within theinterior'of the shield thereby ex- 21 peditin'g the steady flow therethroughf The discharge orifice is preferably so protected within a superposed shield or housing having a comple mentary discharge port registering with the at-" mosphere, that tampering during installation-arid use is avoided and also the'maintenance of a sanitary condition is greatly expedited.

Another important advantage flows from a further modified form of sanitary-construction in which fiow'throngh the head' for drinking pur- 36' poses is enhanced'bythe use of a'capillary lip but in which desired reversal of flow past the lower portion of the-hood will occur when the stream reaches a'predetermined minimum height M attributable to flow drop in volume',' reduction 35 in pressure and the like, thereby effectually 'preventing the drinking of water at suchtime's when line flow or pressure is not 'sufiicient toinsure';

the issuance of an adequate supply considered from the standpoint or proper sanitation.

' A further advantage of my drinking fountain head lies in the provision of a novel form'of concealed discharge orifice which may be made either adjustable orfixed and of such desired 1; shape so that either by capillary adhesion or by 5 suitable deflection the'discharge. flow for. drinking purposes may be easily "controlled to suit the conditions of the individual installation.

to or cooperating with the'human following description in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a. sectional assembly view showing one form of my invention in which the size of the discharge orifice of the drinking fountain head is preferably adjustable; together with the positioning orifice of the protecting hood also being made adjustable.

Fig. 2 is a front exterior view of the fountain headdescribed in Fig; 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a modified form of construction described in Figs. 1 and 2, the section being taken on the line 3-3 of Fig'. 1.

Fig. 4 is a further modified form of construction of fountain head featuring a novel form of apertured stream deflector.

Fig. 5- is a front exterior view of the modified construction described in connection withFig, 4.

Fig. 6 is-an additional modified view showing a novel type of adjustable orifice, and further provided'with a capillary lip construction serving anovel purpose hereinafter tobe described in greater detail.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the various drawing. f

Referring to Fig. l, an'adaptation ofmy invention is shown in which the casing or body I is shown connected to the inlet supply pipe 2 by means of the connection 3, the inlet thereto lead-' ing to a chamber 4 through the inlet pipe'opening. 5. The chamber 4 may be provided with the ribbing 6 to guide the water flow therewithih, and has the outlet aperture 1 leading therefrom, its end limit being defined' by the head end or portion 8, in which in the presently'described construction the head end 8 is positioned substantially horizontally. The outlet aperture 1 is a suitably large oblong'discharge orifice so positioned as to allow for the discharge of water from the upper surface of the head end 8: However, as a feature of this construction, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3, the orifice plate 9 is longitudi nally slidable .and is provided with a turned up or flanged end-portidng-22 acting in cooperative relation with the orificez'l and also with thetransversely-extending surface'23, so as to there'-: byvvary the width of the stream discharged there-' between. Thus it will-be apparent that the width of the discharge orifice generally designated? by thefnumeral 24 is preferably made readily .adjustable by simply moving the orifice guard .9. longitudinallyxguided within its slots In so as superposed uponlthe slidablev orifice plates;

passing under relatively high velocity through.

the orifice 24 is properly aerated. Obviously the shield 25 also serves as a protective hood against tampering with the discharge orifice ,and also avoiding the accumulation of dust and filth there- 9 within.

It will be noted that the forward wall of the shield 25 preferably presents a curvedtransverse section contour 29 leading to the discharge orifice 26 of the shield 25. It will be apparent that the drinking water stream as it discharges from the inner orifice 24 and strikes the inner wall of curved cross-section will join with the surface 29 and by surface adhesion therewith will remain with the latter mentioned surface so as to be guided in close proximity thereto and ultimately to the shield discharge orifice 26.

In order that human fingers, paper, cloth or similar tampering or air cut-off means may not be applied to interfere with the previously referred to aeration provided by the chamber 28, it is preferable that the lower portion of the shield should be provided with the serrated peripheral edge 3| making it difiicult, if not impossible, to block completely the passage of air into the chamber 26, and at the same time, substantially preventing the entry of foreign matter therein. In this construction, it will be apparent therefore that the water as discharged from the adjustable orifice 24 into the hooded chamber 28 provided by the shield 25 cannot under any reasonable circumstances betampered with, nor in any practical way rendered unfit for use. It should be evident further that should the stream emerging from the discharge orifice 24 not possess sufficient force to climb the surface of the curved wall 29, the stream immediately discharging therefrom will fall back and escape in undrinkable form from the space Within the serrated periphery 3| provided by the shield 25, escaping therefrom into the waste drain bowl (not shown). It will be apparent that the advantage of such construction lies in the inability of the user to obtain a drink at the fountain head when the force of the stream is not sufficient to maintain surface adhesion with the wall 29 and therefore cannot discharge in drinkable form from the orifice 26. Further, if the stream force fails or diminishes beyond such point, the user because of the air chamber 28 camiot successfully resort to the insanitary and heretofore common practice of sucking water for a drink from an inadequate stream supply.

In the modified construction shown inFig. 4; F the orifice plate 9 is provided in addition to the usual discharge orifice II with an upwardly extending overhanging deflecting member 30 which serves to direct the water discharged through the orifices 1 and II, respectively, through the orifice 26 of the shield 25. In this varied construction, as distinguished from the form described in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the deflector 30 functions to direct the water through the orifice 26 as distinguished from the surface adhesion means employing the surface 29 as shown in Fig. 1; Here stream, while in the latter, actual deflection is used to direct the stream outwardly.

Directing attention now to a further modified construction shown in Fig. 6, in this form the 'water which is discharged through the adjustable orifice 24, provided by means of the adjustable plate 9, strikes the upwardly extending offset lip portion 22a and similarly by surface adhesion follows or clings to the surface thereof to reach the tip of the lip portion 22a subsequently to be directed to and through the outer discharge orifice 126 of the shield 25. In this construction, similarly, if the water supply pressure to the drinking fountain head should for any reason 'diminish perceptibly, rendering it impossible to possess suflicient force for the discharged stream to reach the orifice 26, the water will likewise fall back into the lower portion of the space 28 so that it will then be impossible for the user to reach the drinking water with the lips or mouth. The advantage of such construction here -too resides in the fact that it is impossible for the individual to place the lips tightly against the orifice 26 and by suction draw the water therefrom, leading to the spread of diseases and other infection.

From the foregoing detailed description it is evident that a simple and relatively compact construction has been provided for a device providing for drinking means available for use by the public in a sanitary manner conducive to good health and which may also be modified in many ways from the particular forms disclosed and described.

I desire, therefore, to be limited only to the extent of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a drinking fountain head adapted to provide a curving column of water of oblong crosssection, the said head comprising a casing having a discharge aperture, an orifice plate superposed over a portion of the said discharge aperture and forming a part thereof, a movable hollow shield having a complementary oblong-shaped aperture superposed above the said plate, the said plate being transversely movable whereby the width of the'discharge aperture of the said casing may be selectively varied. i

2. In a drinking fountain head, the said head having a discharge aperture, an orifice plate therefor, an orifice shield superposed above the said orifice plate, both the said plate and the said shield being independently movable transversely relative to the other and to the said discharge aperture, the said orifice plate being complementary to the said discharge aperture, whereby the flow through the said discharge aperture may be accordingly controlled as to shape and volume.

3. In a drinking fountain head adapted to provide a curving column of water, the said head comprising a casing having a discharge apertm'e, a hooded shield over the said aperture, an orifice plate movably disposed upon the said casing and above the said discharge aperture, the said plate forming part of the said discharge aperture, and

upon transverse movement relative to the said casing determining the size of the said dischargeaperture.

4. In a drinking fountain head adapted to provide a curving column of water, the said head comprising a casing having a discharge aperture, an orifice plate therefor adjustably mounted upon the said casing and transversely movable relative to the said discharge aperture and forming a part thereof, whereby the shape of the flow therebetween and through the said discharge aperture may be controlled.

5. In a drinking fountain head, the said head having a discharge aperture, an orifice plate therefor'transversely movable relative to the said discharge aperture and forming a part thereof, an apertured hooded shield superposedabove said orifice plate, the said shield having serrated edges whereby means are provided to prevent cutting off the air supply therewithin.

EUGENE W. MARCHAND. 

